David H J Gay

Bread from Berridge's Bakery David H J Gay

John Berridge (1716-1793) was an 'individual', a man of singular spirituality. A fellow-Methodist with the likes of George Whitefield, the Wesley brothers, William Grimshaw and John Fletcher, in his enthusiasm for preaching the gospel, Berridge refused to be confined to his own pulpit. Breaking the rules of the State Church, he itinerated widely in his local counties, preaching in the open air, in barns, in kitchens and so on. As a result, in time, independent churches, Nonconformist churches, sprang up as a direct consequence. But Berridge was not only at home when preaching to the labouring classes in the villages. Selina Hastings, Countess of Huntingdon, recognised his talents, and made extensive use of him, not least to preach the gospel among the upper classes and the fashionable in London and Bath. In addition to all this, in his voluminous correspondence spread over almost forty years, Berridge wrote on many aspects of the Christian life. To make this valuable material more widely known, David Gay has selected, and commented on, the following 'bread' from Berridge's 'bakery': 'Preaching', 'To an Enquirer', 'Christ Is All', 'Positional Sanctification', 'Assurance', 'Progressive Sanctification', 'Pride', 'Secret Prayer' and 'Pressing on in Old Age'. As you can see, there's something here for all of us. A free download of the author reading the book is available on sermonaudio.com